Eye of the Dragon
by Fred Andrew Oakster
Summary: Harry disappears from Godric's Hollow before anyone can get to him. An ancient creature finds him and brings him home, to raise him as one of her own. WIll contain elements from other franchises later on.


**A/N: **_HEY! What's going on guys?! And welcome to my new story! I hope you will enjoy the prologue and will look forward to the first actual chapter. The updates might be a little slow to begin with, because I got a lot on my hands and I want to put some effort into detail with this story!_

_Also, I want to take this time to announce that this won't be a pure Harry Potter story. Don't misunderstand, it will still be Harry, making friends and all that but some elements might be changed to more resemble something from another franchise. If you don't like stories that stretch the boundaries a little bit, then this is not a story for you! That being said, I hope you will at least give it a chance if you feel you might like it, so I won't hold you here! Go ahead and read!_

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Harry Potter, neither do I own anything else from the story. I'm just a teenager with too much fantasy in his head.

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**Prologue**: Aftermath of the First War

The rain fell from the sky in a heavy downpour over Godric's Hollow, as if the skies themselves were crying over the tragedy that had played out here just a few hours ago. The clock had passed midnight by now and the dawn of November 1rst was closing in, yet darkness was still weighing heavy over the little village. In a small alley to the side of the road, there echoed a low-pitched "bang", courtesy of a wizard apparating into the vicinity.

A second later, a hooded man appeared in the alley. His black robes were immediately drenched by the downpour, but he didnt' seem to pay it any mind at all. He only spared a quick glance up towards the skies before he left the alley and hurriedly walked down the street towards his destination.

The treck to the ruined building was short and already from a distance, he could see the smoke rising from the ruins of what had once been the house of the Potter Family. He shuddered. Just thinking the name left a bad taste in his mouth, but that was to be expected. He and Potter hadn't exactly been friends and if it wasn't for _her,_ he couldn't care less what happened to him and his son.

Just as he thought it, he turned around a corner and finally, the entire Potter Estate was visible. And what he saw made him almost take back his previous thoughts about leaving James and Harry Potter to their fates.

The entire outer wall of the house and been blown away and the livingroom was clearly visible through the rain. If he had to guess, he would say that Voldemort had not felt the need to just knock and unlock the door. Most of the grass was either gone or scorched, except the parts that were at the opposite side of the little garden from the wall, suggesting that it had been an Explosion Curse that did the work.

Inside the house, Severus could clearly see destroyed furniture, scorch marks and holes in the walls that were still decently intact. The damage that had been dealt spoke volumes of the two wizards who had battled it out here just a few hours ago, especially one of them.

As he walked up the path that led to the house with slow and hesistant steps, Severus felt his throat grow dry. He knew that James Potter had been a powerful wizard. Even he couldn't deny that, no matter how much it hurt to admit it. But judging by the state that the building was in, the battle had been one sided. There was just no standing up against the power of Lord Voldemort. Both the Potters, Lily in particular, had been amongst the most gifted witches and wizards from their generation, and yet it looked like this battle had been nothing but a little schuffle from Voldemort's side.

As he stepped through the destroyed wall and into the livingroom, Severus found the first evidence of death. A few feet in front of him, the body of a young man with raven black hair was lying face down. There was no sign of any physical damage, courtesy of Voldemort's Killing Curse, but if the surroundings were anything to go by, James Potter had fought back against Voldemort with all his might and still gotten outmatched.

Looking around in the room, Severus felt his chest constrict painfully. If this much damage had been dealt down here, then what were the chances that Lily was still alive? Pretty close to none. While it gave him some hope that her body was nowhere to be found down here, he knew deep down that it was a fool's hope that he held. The Lily Evans he had known and loved since childhood would never have turned her back and run if someone she cared for was threatened. That was one of the many things that made her unique in his eyes. And probably, also one of the things that had made her special in Potter's eyes, Severus admitted begrudgingly.

Taking a deep breath, Severus did his best to try and collect himself. Was he ready for this? Since there was no sign of her down here, that meant that she must have fled upstairs when Potter was killed. If he was going to find out the truth, if he was going to find _her,_ he would need to go upstairs and search for her. But was he ready for the truth? Was he ready to find her, no matter what state she was in?

No.

The answer was that he simply wasn't ready and he probably never would be. Lily had been the most important person to him his entire life. No matter what he did and no matter who else he associated with, Lily had been willing to try and overlook it and done her best to remain his friend. During their years at Hogwarts, she had displayed an almost unnatural patience with him, hoping that he would go back to being the boy she used to know. And how had he repayed her? By joining the Death Eaters and sending Voldemort after her.

But he had to know. He wasn't ready for it, but he had to know. No matter how long he waited or how much he tried to steel himself for this, he knew that he would never be ready for this. But he needed to find out what had happened to her, to get some closure on this. He couldn't just turn back and run away from the truth. Ready or not, he had to see her with his own eyes one last time. He owed her that much.

Swallowing harshly to try and fight down the lump in his throat that was threatening to strangle him alive, Severus took a deep breath and headed upstairs. The walls up here were intact and most of the furniture were untouched, as if Lily had stopped resisting Voldemort and resigned herself to her approaching death when James had fallen. The mere thought of Lily, _his _Lily, resigning herself to death was heartbreaking and for a moment, Severus couldn't move. He just stood, frozen in place as he spotted the room that no doubt had been the last place where Lily Evans had set foot during her mortal existance.

All the signs were there. A few scorch marks on the floor just outside the room, the door had been blown off its hinges and was lying on the floor just inside the room. Judging by what he could see from out in the hall, that had to be the infant's chamber. Lily had spent the last moments of her life, trying to protect her son.

Slowly, Severus made his way towards the doorway. He felt like his steps echoed throughout his head, even though they were barely audible over the sound of the downpour against the roof. Judging by the sound, there was also a hole in either the roof or the wall somewhere inside the chamber. With almost painfully slow steps, Severus stepped into the room.

And that was when he saw her. Just in front of the crib rested the body of Lily Potter, née Evans. Just like with James, her body had not been exposed to any phyiscal harm. If he didn't know any better, he could've almost guessed that she was just asleep. On some subconcious level, that made it a little easier to bare, but at the same time he also felt his heart beat harder in his chest. What if she really only was sleep? A part of him couldn't help but hope that was the case, even though his mind and his entire being was telling him that it wasn't possible. Lily Potter was dead.

He didn't know how he did it or when, but during the time he tried to come to terms with the evidence that was right in front of his eyes, Severus moved over to the crib and fell to his knees in front of the body of his former best friend. He reached out with a trembling hand and stroked it across her delicate cheek. She was so cold...

For what felt like hours, he just sat there. He didn't know when the tears started coming or when they stopped, he didn't know when he let his hand silently find hers and clench it softly, trying to immitate the reassuring squeeze he used to give her when she was nervous about going to Hogwarts back when they were kids. It all felt so far away, as if he was just watching himself through a long telescope or something. It just seemed so surreal, yet he knew in the back of his head that it was really happening.

What could he do now? Up to this point, the only thing that had kept him going had been his resolve to protect Lily, but now that resolve was gone. Lily was gone... What could he do with his life now? Was it even worth living at all?

Looking down at the dead body of the person he used to love, Severus felt how his despair grew. No, there was no reason for him to live. He had wasted his entire life by joining the Death Eaters and pushing Lily away and his actions had ended up killing the person he loved more than anything. He had practically killed Lily himself!

Why was he still here?

His wand was lying safely inside his cloak. It was easy to retrieve and he knew more than enough curses that could easily put an end to his misery. All he needed to do was to reach inside his robes and pull out that little piece of wood and mutter a single word and it would all be over. He would be able to free himself from this living hell, he would be able to see Lily again and perhaps apologize to her for his many wrong doings...

Silently, he began to reach for his wand inside his robes... but then, his gaze fell on Lily again. What would she think of him if he proceeded with this? Would she want him to do this because of her death?

He swallowed, fighting back the urge to reach for his wand. No. She wouldn't want to be the cause of his death, no matter how distant she had been towards him since they ended their official friendship. But what would she want him to do? If he could somehow speak to her and ask her what she wanted him to do for her, as a friend then what would she ask of him? For some reason as he thought about this, his gaze lifted from Lily's body, to stare at the empty crib.

Harry.

Severus had only met Harry James Potter once so far, during an meeting with the Order of the Phoenix where the Potters had been forced to bring him along because their neighbour, Bathilda Bagshot, who usually took care of Harry when they were away doing something, was down with a nasty flu and was unable to care for the boy. His first impression of the boy had been rusty at best. That blasted boy had been the reason that Lily was driven into hiding and he was proof of all the wrong doings Severus had made, that had eventually driven Lily towards James Potter and away from himself.

But now, Harry was all that was left of Lily. He might be James Potter's son, but he was also Lily Evans' son. And if it was something positive he had noticed about Harry, it was his eyes. He had Lily's eyes. Those same eyes that had entranced Severus since the first time he saw them. Despite himself, Severus had found himself staring at the boy several times during the meeting, glancing at his innocent eyes, the eyes that reminded him so much of the Lily he remembered, the one that had been his friend on equal terms and had been looking at him with care and happiness, rather than the strain, insecurity and later displeassure that she had when they came to Hogwarts.

It took a few moments for Severus to put two and two together in his mind, because he wasn't really sure if he wanted to get this resolve or not. Harry was still James Potter's son, the son of his worst bully and the person he hated over everything else. But then again... Harry was also still the last living relic of Lily Evans, the person he loved over everything else. What would Lily think of him if he just left her son to die because of a school grudge?

He cringed inwardly at the thought. No doubt Lily Evans would be turning in her grave if she knew that he just abandonned her son, Death Eater or not. Lily had died to protect Harry, wouldn't just leaving him to his fate be kind of like spitting on her sacrifice?

Clenching his hand around Lily's, Severus felt warmth return to his body and the semi-entranced feeling he had been under ever since he entered the building floated away. He had to find Harry. He had failed to protect Lily, but he still had the chance to protect what she had died to protect. There was still a chance for him to redeem himself and honor his friendship with Lily and he wouldn't make the same mistakes twice.

Slowly, he let go of Lily's dead hand and stood up, taking a deep breath to try and collect himself. He would have time to grieve later, right now finding Harry and ensure his safety took first priority.

'_Don't worry,'_ he thought as he cast one last glance at Lily. '_I'll make sure that your son is safe.'_

With that, he turned on his heels and left the room. Walking out of the room and leaving Lily's body behind felt almost as hard as it had to walk in there and see it, but at the same time it felt good to be able to leave that room behind. He had something he needed to do again, a purpose. And to fulfill that purpose, he would need to find Harry. The first step towards that was to try and figure out who could've taken him. Death Eaters were probably out of the quesiton for now. He doubted that Voldemort would've trusted anyone, except maybe Lucius and Bellatrix, enough to tell them something so important. And neither of those two were likely to come here first thing when they heard about the Dark Lord's demise.

That left only a handful of people, none of which were a direct threat to Harry. Even though the Fidelius Charm had worn off, people would still need to be told about the location by someone who had been aware of it while it was still under the charm to know where to look, because he doubted someone would just randomly walk in here and find Harry and decide to take him with them.

So, who had known of the Fidelius Charm and the Potters' location? Bathilda Bagshot knew, since she had been Harry's caretaker when his parents went to meetings with the Order. Obviously, Albus knew since he had been the one to suggest they use the charm in the first place and he thought that maybe Professor McGonagall knew as well, since she had been particularly close to the Potters. Then, there was the Marauders and the Longbottoms, both of which would most likely be first in line of both Lily and James' list of trustworthy people. Aside from those, there was always Hagrid, whom both Potters had been very fond of and Severus suspected that Professor Flitwick might have been the one to cast the charm, since he was the most skilled charms expert in the Order's ranks.

As he exited the building and felt the rain soaking through his cloak again, Severus came to a stop. All those were potential candidates to have known about the Potters' hideout and that in turn made them possible as candidates to have taken Harry away from here. However, it was unlikely that Dumbledore had agreed to share the secret between so many different people, because the more people who knew, the greater the risk that the secret was revealed.

He decided to start working with those he knew for sure had known of the hideout: Professors Dumbledore and Flitwick, the Marauders and Bathilda Bagshot. Out of those, he could definetely exclude Flitwick as the one to have taken Harry away, since he had seen said wizard in the Great Hall just shortly before he departed for Godric's Hollow himself. He couldn't completely exclude that any of the Marauders had been the one to take Harry away, but except for maybe Black, they would just have brought him to Dumbledore as fast as they could anyway, so Dumbledore was probably the best place to start.

His course of actions made up, Severus disapprated, his mind set on finding out where Dumbledore was and where he was keeping Harry. He remembered that the Headmaster had been absent from the feast that was being held in the great hall, so that meant he was most likely not at Hogwarts. But if that was the case, then where could he be?

**-HP-**

It was later than midnight and the moon had already fallen, leaving the street of Privet Drive in darkness, save for the light that was given by the lampposts. On the stone wall that was next to Number 4, a cat was sitting very stiffly and watched the house intently. It had been present the entire day, studying the inhabitants of Number 4 with unnerving intensity. Now however, it seemed to be waiting for something.

Suddenly, the light in the lamppost just outside of Privet Drive Number 4 went _out _of the lamppost and flew of towards the end of the street. The cat immediately turned its head in the direction where the light had flown off, spotting a tall silhouette walking down the street. The man was holding his hand high in the air, holding something out, into which the light that went out of the lamppost seemed to have disappeared. A second later, the light in the next lamppost followed after the other and flew into the strange device in the man's hand.

This kept up until the entire street had been covered in darkness. By then, the man had made his way down the street and come to a stop just outside of the gate to Number 4, not too far away from the cat. He was a strange man, wearing a dark blue robe covered in stars and moons, making him look like he was a dressed in a piece of the sky itself. As his eyes found the cat, sitting atop the stone wall watching him, the old man's lips were curled into a smile.

"I should've known that you would be here." he said as he nodded towards the cat. "Professor McGonagall."

The cat's eyes narrowed at being spoken to. She should've known that Dumbledore would recognize her, even in the dark. There was just no way of getting around that man. Sighing inwardly, Minerva jumped off the stone wall and transformed back to her human form. A second later, a stern, strange-looking woman with glasses was standing next to the equally strange-looking man.

"Professor Dumbledore." Minerva offered as a greeting.

Dumbledore bowed ever so slightly in response before straightening up and pulling out a strange watch with stars and moon instead of numbers, studying it intently. Minerva cast a glance at the watch, but quickly just shook her head and looked back up at Dumbledore. Even she couldn't completely understand that watch, even though Dumbledore had tried to explain it to her many times. How the man himself understood it would forever be beyond her understanding.

However, she hadn't come here to just hang around. She had come here for answers, answers that she knew Professor Dumbledore held. For a moment, she just stood there, watching as Professor Dumbledore studied his watch, then looked up towards the nightsky, then lowered his gaze back to the surface of the watch again. When it became apparent that Dumbledore wouldn't initiate a conversation, Minerva spoke up.

"Albus... are the rumors true?"

For a moment, Dumbledore didn't give any indication to have heard her, instead opting to look up towards the star filled sky again. However, just as Minerva was about to repeat her question, Dumbledore finally spoke up.

"I'm afraid they are. Both the good... and the bad."

Hearing Dumbledore's confirmation, Minerva completely froze up. She had half expected the rumors to be just that, rumors. It just sounded so incredibly unbelievable, so completely illogical.

"So he's really gone? He's really been stopped?"

Minerva inwardly cursed when she heard her voice tremble. It wasn't like her at all to be so unsure of herself, but right now everything just felt so uncertain that she couldn't quite keep her emotions in check.

"Well," Dumbledore said, "he's gone for now."

"And the boy?" Minerva kept pushing for answers, ignoring Dumbledore's cryptic answer. "Is it true what they say? That after all the people he's killed, an infant boy was the one to stop him?"

For the first time since he arrived, Dumbledore showed an emotional reaction to something Minerve had said. However, it was an emotion she had not expected: annoyance.

"Please Minerva," Dumbledore said with a slight hint of exasperration in his tone, "why can't you just speak of him by name? I've never had any problems calling him by his rightful name: Voldemort."

Hearing the name of the acknowledged strongest dark wizard of all times, Minerva flinched. Even though Voldemort was supposedly gone now, she still didn't feel too comfortable hearing or speaking his name. There weren't many things that Minerva McGonagall feared, but Voldemort was definetly one of them and like for so many other wizards and witches (practically the entire Magical World), the name alone was enough to make her feel extremely uncomfortable.

"That may be, but that's you. You're different from the rest of us." she said to her defense.

Dumbledore just sighed in slight disappointment. Minerva knew all too well that he didn't like being singled out as someone special, but in this case he only had himself to blame. He was someone special, someone extraordinary compared to most of them. The most powerful wizard since the Founders of Hogwarts themselves and the strongest since his own generation. Lord Voldemort was the only one who could even consider challenging Dumbledore to a duel and expect to come out victorious.

"Well, as far as I know, and I admit I might still be wrong, the rumors are true down to the slightest detail." Dumbledore answered nonchalantly.

Minerva sighed in shock. So it really was true. Lord Voldemort had finally fallen at the hands of an infant boy, Harry Potter.

"I can't believe it..." Minerva whispered in shock, too stunned to think straight. The implications of what Dumbledore had just told her were overwhelming, even if it were just a few words. If all rumors were indeed true, that meant Minerva had lost some of the best friends she had gotten to know since her family was killed. At the same time, the world had finally been freed from the horrors and darkness that was Lord Voldemort, the most powerful dark wizard of all times.

For a moment, none of them let out even the slightest of sounds. Dumbledore opted to keep studying the nightsky, still looking for... whatever it was he was looking for. Minerva didn't really care. She was too lost in thought, too stunned to even completely register what was going on around her. Lily and James Potter were dead, and their son Harry had become the savior of the wizarding world. It all just sounded too bizarre for her to really comprehend.

However, both Minerva and Dumbledore were brought out of their thoughts by an all too familiar sound that caused both of them to jump in surprise. Someone apparated to the end of the street, causing a loud bang to echo throughout the blockby the rushing air that was forced away from the space it had occupied just a moment ago by the sudden appearence of the stranger. Acting on instinct, Minerva had her wand in her hand within a second and had it aimed towards the dark silhouette.

Dumbledore didn't reach for his wand, but his light and carefree demeanor was gone in an instant and his face hardened into that of an experienced warrior, ready to draw his own weapon at the least indication that violence would follow. His eyes lost their happy twinkle and became cold as ice as they focused on the newcomer, who by now had spotted them and began moving down the street.

"Who's there? Show your us your face!" Minerva called with a steady voice, slowly pulling back her wand in case she would need to use it quickly.

The stranger slowed his steps and pulled out his own wand, Minerva's breath caught in her throat and she was just about to cast her curse before the stranger could draw his wand, when Dumbledore raised his hand and made a lowering motion. Minerva cast a quick glance over her shoulder at the headmaster, taking in his relaxed and relieved look, and then hesistantly lowered her wand.

"_**Lumos**!_" the stranger spoke up, causing the tip of his wand to lit up like a torch so that he could show them his face, as per Minerva's request.

Hearing the voice of the stranger, Minerva felt herself relax a little more. She recognized that voice and sure enough, when the wand lit up to show off the stranger's face, she could easily make out the face of her former student and current colleague, Severus Snape. He didn't look happy, but Minerva didn't think much of it. After all, he never looked happy.

"Ah Severus, what brings you to this part of Britain?" Dumbledore asked casually, now much more relaxed and the twinkle back in his eyes.

In Minerva's opinion, her headmaster was a little too quick to trust that this really was Severus Snape, considering that just yesterday, a war was still being raged where Polyjuice Potion was a common element for espionage and sneak attacks, but then again she felt pretty certain that Dumbledore would be able to tell if this really was Severus or not.

"I could ask you the same question." Severus replied coldly. "It wouldn't be because Harry's relatives happen to live in the house you're standing by?"

The venom and coldness of Severus voice caused Minerva to shiver slightly and she immediately tensed up. Severus was never one for social interraction, but his voice was usually very even and emotionless, not cold or threatening like it was now. However, something else also registered in her mind, causing her to remember why she too had chosen to come here of all places to wait for Dumbledore.

"I think the mere fact that I'm here answers that question pretty nicely." Dumbledore commented tiredly.

This was apparently the wrong thing to say, as Severus let out an angry growl and grit his teeth to show just how much he disapproved of Dumbledore's being here, and the reason for it.

"You can't seriously be thinking about leaving Harry with Petunia!? Do you know how much Petunia hated magic? Or how much she hated _Lily_?!" Severus growled, though he still tried to be as quiet as possible as to not wake up anyone.

" For once, I agree with Severus." Minerva added her point of view. "I've been watching them for the entire day! They're the worst kind of muggles imagineable! They really are..."

"... the only family he has left." Dumbledore said with finality in his voice. He usually didn't get annoyed when people gave him their opinion, but enough was enough. Minerva heard the underlying tone of warning in his voice, leaving no room for arguments. Reluctantly, Minerva began to back down. Maybe Dumbledore knew something about this that she didn't? But then, why wouldn't he just tell her?

Both Minerva and Severus opened their mouths at the same time to try and get some answers out of Dumbledore, but they were interrupted by a terrible noise coming from somewhere above. Looking up in confusion, they spotted a sphere of white light that grew bigger by the second, soon revealing a flying motorcycle coming down towards them. Once more, Minerva's hand twitched towards her wand but just like before, Dumbledore raised his hand in a calming gesture, signaling that he did not think that the man, or woman, riding the flying vehicle meant any harm.

The three Hogwarts Professors watched as the vehicle landed clumsily on the ground and slowed to a stop in front of them. The man riding the motorcycle had a huge build and was easily three times the size of a normal human being, giving Minerva a pretty good hint as to who the man was. It also calmed her nerves tremendously and made her relax, as the man question could not be impersonated by any means she knew of, since he was a half giant.

"Good evening, Hagrid. I trust everything went well?" Dumbledore greeted the newcomer.

No, everything wasn't well. Even Minerva could easily tell by the way Hagrid held himself that something wasn't right. She had never been too close to the half giant, she would admit that much, but as soon as Hagrid got close enough to make out his face and posture, even she could tell that everything definetely hadn't went well. Apparently, so could both Dumbledore and Severus, because both of them tensed up when noticing Hagrid's solemn face.

"A'm 'fraid n-not, perfesser." Hagrid said, hiccuping half way through his sentence. "W-when I searched through t-the house, I couldn't find 'im. H-Harry's gone!"

His red eyes widened in horror as he said the last part, and they weren't the only pair of eyes that widened at that declaration. Minerva gasped in shock and horror, Dumbledore's eyes shot up past his silvery white hair and Severus' growled under his breath. For a moment, no one said anything. Then, Dumbledore seemed to realize the implications of what Hagrid had just told them and the normally so calm and collected old face was overtaken by a face of horror.

"What do you mean "Harry's gone"?" he whispered, still quite shaken from the revealation.

Severus however, had also regained his ability to speak. And he did not hesitate to use that to let Dumbledore know exactly what he thought.

"Oh, I think it is quite clear what Hagrid means, Dumbledore." he said with a dangerous tone in his voice.

For once, Dumbledore seemed to be at a loss for words. He opened hs mouth to say something, but closed it against with letting out a sound. Minerva watched her headmaster with a growing sense of dismay, which soon turned into horror. Harry Potter was gone.

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**A/N**: _So, there you got the prologue for this story. I know it's kind of short, but it did what it was meant to do and set the stage for the first chapter. If you read this far, thanks and I hope you will keep reading as soon as I post the first chapter. _

_Also, I am well aware that I got a lot of stuff running atm and I will have to prioritize what I am writing, so if you want to see where this story goes, make sure to smash the HELL out of that follow button down below! Also, I want to once again remind you that this story, the further it goes, will contain elements from other franchises. I might base an OC off a character from another franchise or I might involve something that isn't originally from the Harry Potter Universe. If you hate stories that doesn't follow HP rules strictly, then this isn't the fic for you._


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